


Axe-olotl

by DroppedAllTheseOreos



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Not Ship focused, axolotls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29277786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedAllTheseOreos/pseuds/DroppedAllTheseOreos
Summary: Graphite's under house arrest, and Kiriya decides he needs a change of pace.
Relationships: Graphite/Kujou Kiriya
Comments: 7
Kudos: 4





	Axe-olotl

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based off this prompt list by [fluffyomlette!](https://fluffyomlette.tumblr.com/post/642357919599443968/this-is-kind-of-a-specific-request-so-i-hope)

"Who's this?"

Graphite eyed the little creature in the tank Kiriya carried as he shuffled past him into the apartment.

"An axolotl," Kiriya said simply, carefully toeing off his shoes and headed to the kitchen counter.

"Ah-sho... what?" Graphite's face screwed up frustratedly at the new word.

"Axolotl," Kiriya repeated slowly and focused on his pronunciation.

Graphite raised a skeptical eyebrow his way, "And what are you planning on doing with the creature over there?"

Kiriya stared back at him for a while. Graphite's eyes wandered down to the tank and Kiriya followed his gaze.

Everything suddenly clicked.

"Oh god no, just because I put him in the kitchen—? We’re not gonna eat him, don't worry about that! He's gonna be a new housemate!" He said, "Also, can you get those bags I left outside? Be careful with them, there's some delicate stuff in there!"

The tension in Graphite's shoulders eased, and he nodded slightly. He brought back the rest of Kiriya's mystery items and set them on the counter next to the tank. Kiriya started going through them immediately, putting things aside and organizing them. As he busied himself with the items, Graphite leaned down to get on eye level with the axolotl.

They looked like a bizarre halfway point between a fish and a frog, having a similar shape and coloration to river fish with beady little eyes. But their mottled mix of browns and tinges of greenish-gray was on skin instead of scales. The axolotl's tail slowly tapered to a rounded point more like an eel, and scrawny legs, like the forelimbs of a frog, sprouted from all four points on their body.

He gently tapped the side of the tank. Making them scramble away, surprisingly quickly, to hide under a curtain of some kind of plant. Graphite was impressed, even though their speed seemed to come from their tail more than their little legs.

But, strangest of all, their neck was adorned with little appendages, three on each side. Graphite squinted at them. At first glance, they seemed like horns, but the axolotl flapped them up and down, bringing attention to their thick, hair-like growths by making them sway in the water.

The strange little creature stared at him warily through the plants, and Graphite continued to stare back.

"So, why have you declared them a new housemate?"

"Well, you seemed kinda down lately," Kiriya shrugged, carrying a tank stand over to the living room and setting it down against a wall. "And since you're still under house arrest until the Ministry of Health figures out what to do with you, I figured you might be lonely and bored. So I got this lil' guy to keep you company in the meanwhile."

Graphite sighed, watching Kiriya return to struggle with the aquarium he'd been assembling for a bit, then grabbed the other side to help him carry it over to the stand and set it down. "You really think getting approval to go outside is going to take this creature’s whole lifetime?"

"Oh of course not. Still, good to have a buddy around, don’t you think?" Kiriya said. 

Once they made sure everything was stable, Kiriya brought the axolotl over and gently tipped them into the water, closing a mesh lid over the tank once they were safely inside.

Graphite wanted to protest that he wasn't that lonely. Saki had been recently restored thanks to him being sort of a "backup" of all her data. And she came by to visit often, given their strange relationship. For some reason, she wanted to get to know him better. Was _excited_ to get to know him. Poppy and Nico would often accompany her, as well, making sure she was acclimating to being alive again. And Parad would drop by, sometimes with his host in tow.

And even if they weren’t around, he had Kiriya. By all means, he shouldn't feel lonely, but actually trying to say that out loud felt like a lie.

"Hey, 'Phite?"

Kiriya's voice snapped him back to reality.

"I still don’t...?" Graphite said softly.

The human slowly pulled him into an embrace. "I can be his main caretaker if this doesn't work out for you, but I thought it might be good. You're a protector. And you haven't really had anyone to protect since the crisis got resolved, so I thought getting you someone to take care of that wasn't me on a deadline would help you feel less restless."

Graphite brought up an arm to return the embrace, watching the axolotl slowly float towards the surface, seeming more at ease now that he was in a big environment with lots of places to explore and keep him entertained.

"...I'll give it a shot."

"Alright," Kiriya smiled up at him, stepping back to look at the tank. "So, what do you wanna name him?"

Graphite bit his lip. He had Saki's memories of naming stuffed animals and an old, grumpy pet cat when she was in middle school. But he’d never had the opportunity or any reasons to name anything.

The axolotl slowly floated back down to the bottom of the tank, crawling close to the edge and staring up at him curiously. Graphite took in their appearance again. They reminded him of something familiar.

"How about Baan?"

"Baan?" Kiriya tilted his head.

Graphite nodded, "They sort of look like a species of dragon from my game and that's the root word for their name."

Kiriya hummed thoughtfully, "I like it, sounds like a warm name," Graphite raised a surprised eyebrow and Kiriya shook his head, grinning "I dunno... I guess it reminds me of bánh mì and now you've got me thinking of toasty bread."

Graphite thought it would take time to bond with the axolotl and feel protective over him like he did with Parad and Saki, but apparently, all it took was Kiriya.

He glared, "I swear if you—"

Kiriya waved his hands defensively, "I promise I won't eat him! Even if you gave him a delicious sounding name!"

* * *

"Um, 'Phite, can you come here for a minute?" Kiriya called out over his shoulder, then turned his attention back to the axolotl tank. They had Baan for a few weeks now, and Kiriya figured this new development was a sign he and Graphite were bonding, but it was... so unexpected...

"What?" Graphite asked as he emerged from their bedroom.

"Um... Why does Baan have an axe strapped to him?"

"I noticed he didn't come with his natural defense mechanisms, I assume they were stripped off him for research purposes before he was released to you, so Saki helped me craft something for him."

Kiriya eyelids fluttered as he tried to process all that. "I'm sorry, what natural defenses?"

"It's in the name of his species, isn't it? I know you didn't show me how it was spelled but I looked it up." His brow furrowed concernedly as Kiriya continued to look at him like he was speaking a completely different language, "Kiriya, I thought you were smarter than this, come on."

As Kiriya slowly tried to piece it all together, Graphite walked over to the tank and knelt down to start cooing at Baan. Finally, it hit him.

"Axe-olotl..."

Graphite raised a curious but judgmental eyebrow at Kiriya as he crouched down into a ball and hid his face in his hands to groan.

"Babe, you're the worst."

"I love you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Little behind the scenes notes:  
> Baan's look was inspired by this big chungus axolotl that's the first image on the [Wikipedia page](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Axolotl_ganz.jpg/1200px-Axolotl_ganz.jpg)  
> Also his name is derived from the Monster Hunter species Radobaan. They're absolute units like the Baan in this fic.  
> Thought this fic was going to be roughly 500 words, and now it seems like every time I think that the fic ends up being way more lol
> 
> Thanks much for reading!
> 
> I have a [writing Tumblr ](https://droppedalltheseoreos.tumblr.com/) if you'd like to drop by and say hi or something!


End file.
